FA let Barton off the hook in Villa clash

JOEY BARTON has escaped an FA charge following his tangle with Gabriel Agbonlahor at St James’ Park.

Barton was involved in a heated row with Aston Villa striker Agbonlahor and was seen raising his hand and flicking his opponent’s face in the first half of Newcastle’s 2-0 victory, which took them off the foot of the table.

It was a petulant act rather than a violent one, and referee Steve Bennett, who reviewed the incident on video yesterday, told the FA the offence did not warrant a charge.

Villa were concerned enough to launch their own probe into the flare-up and their officials watched video footage from several angles, but the club have yet to make any formal complaint.

However, Villa are keeping their options open and Barton, who only last week insisted he was a reformed character, remains very much under the spotlight.

He still has a six-match suspended sentence, for his attack on Ousmane Dabo, hanging over him. That will come into force if he is dismissed for violent conduct in the next 20 months.

As ever, Barton protested his innocence after Monday’s game and, in fairness, it was hardly the most heinous crime ever committed on a football pitch, but at the same time he has once again managed to make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

After tangling with Agbonlahor, Barton could have walked away – as he promised he would in several interviews since coming out of jail – but instead he got involved in a lengthy exchange with the Villa striker and then raised his hand to the player’s face.

Twenty years ago such an incident would not have caused a ripple, but times have changed and referees are very quick to severely punish any player who raises his hands.

Last season Middlesbrough’s Jeremie Aliadiere committed a similar offence at Anfield against Javier Mascherano, barely tweaking the Argentine player’s nose, but the result was a red card for violent conduct and a three-match ban, raised to four games when Boro complained.

Barton said: “I thought it was a foul against me and I had a hold of the ball.

“We shook hands after the game and that’s the way it is. It was all about nothing. Nothing has gone on and people are making a mountain out of a molehill.

“I am going home to bed now and I am going to sleep with a clear conscience.

“With the referee, linesmen, the fourth official and all the TV cameras, you know you cannot raise your hands these days, and at no stage have I done that.”

But those cameras prove emphatically that he did.

Barton was supported by Joe Kinnear’s assistant, Chris Hughton, who said the midfielder was being targeted because of his appalling past. He is right, but Barton has brought that entirely upon himself. Barton’s every movement on and off the football pitch is going to be closely

monitored, and he cannot claim to have become a reformed character if he is poking his fingers into another player’s face.

Fortunately for Barton, Agbonlahor did not react other than with a shrug of his shoulders, which is of great credit to the England Under-21 striker.

At least there was some good news for Newcastle fans yesterday, with Seymour Pierce chairman Keith Harris claiming he has received two “very serious” candidates as possible buyers of the club.

Harris is brokering the sale of Newcastle after he was appointed in September by current owner Mike Ashley to identify potential buyers for the club.

Harris said: “We have two very serious contenders to buy it. It is not easy doing anything in this world, whether it’s selling a football club or anything else, but it will come through.”

During this period of instability club skipper Michael Owen has called for calm and insists there should still be plenty of cause for optimism.

“It would be nice to just have one season where the off-the-field distractions that seem to follow the club didn’t happen,” he said.

“We still have the FA Cup to go for and there are an awful lot of important points to be played for over the rest of the season.”

Owen, who managed about 30 seconds against Villa after being sidelined with a groin strain for a month, added: “It wasn’t a serious injury and it’s always nice coming back into a team that has won a game or two.

“It has been frustrating because I’ve ended up missing a few games, including Sunderland, which was the one I certainly didn’t want to miss.”

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